Summertime Fall
by SoulFire1111
Summary: Naruto joins Hinata in a hunt for flowers to press. One Shot. Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata belong to Kishimoto and I can only hope to do them the justice they deserve!


SUMMERTIME FALL  
Rated K

Naruto shielded his eyes from the bright morning sun and looked across the field of long grass and wildflowers. Cottony clouds framed the lone tree topped hill in the distance and a gentle breeze set the scene before him in motion. Everything looked perfect. He glanced to his side, where Hinata stood with wicker basket in hand, long dark hair shining in the light. Yeah. Absolutely perfect.

"This is a great place, y'know!" he told her, as if she didn't know. Hinata, after all, had chosen the spot.

"It's my favorite place to pick flowers for pressing," she said, adjusting the slipping wide strap of her lavender sundress . "Thank you for joining me."

He cast his crooked grin down on her. "Hey! It's the perfect day to be out in the sunshine and fresh air! Gotta love nature!" He gave her an engaging wink and waded into the knee high grass, eager to start the mission.

She watched him forge ahead, a burst of orange and black amid the field of pastel dainties. She had to agree. It _was_ a perfect day-but then again, any day spent in Naruto's company teetered on perfection.

He turned to offer her another lopsided grin. "You're the expert here, so just point out what you want and I'm on it!"

She covered her lips with her free hand as she moved to join him, attempting to mask the amusement his exuberance induced. She had actually feared that he might find the idea of gathering flowers boring, but he had taken to the task as though it were an S ranked mission.

"Hey, hey, Hinata! Look at this one!" he called, coming to an abrupt halt before what he hoped to be a promising candidate for plucking. Delicate, star-like blossoms stood out a pristine white in an upsweep of dark green leaves.

"Oh no, Naruto-kun! Wait!" She gathered the flared skirt of her dress and pushed through the tall grass to quickly reach his side. "Don't pick that one!"

His bottom lip protruded in puzzlement. "Yeah?"

"That's a Stinging Nettle," she explained. "See those little hairs on the leaves? One touch and they burn like a poisoned senbon."

He bent down for a closer inspection. "Oh...yeah...but it's so pretty..."

"Surely you have learned that pretty things can be dangerous," she said softly as she leaned in beside him, her hair falling around her face.

He observed her sweeping her locks back over one ear before responding. "That's for sure," he agreed, casting her a sly sideways glance.

Her cheeks tinged pink in response to his unexpected compliment, but he was already up and away, intent in his quest to find the perfect flower for pressing. His search was short.

"How about these? Any better?" He held aloft a cluster of delicate yellow blooms in a choke hold.

"Very much, yes." she approved, "You have a good eye...however..."

"However?" His lips drew into a crestfallen pout. "Aww, Hinata..."

"You mustn't strangle them, Naruto-kun," she instructed, gently loosening his grip on the plants. "Pick them with care, one at a time. Like this." She carefully freed a single blossom from its stem as he intently watched, and his extreme concentration on such a simple act made her smile.

"One at a time," he repeated to himself, unaware of her amused scrutiny, "Gotcha!" He mimicked her moves, pinching off a yellow flower to drop it into the basket. "A dozen shadow clones could really be a big help, y'know-"

"That's probably true." She paused to meet his eyes. "But it's so much nicer with just the two of us, don't you think?"

He froze for a moment, like a deer caught in her light, then recovered with a chuckle and a nod. "Yeah," he agreed, reaching back to give his blond spikes a scratch, "those guys would just end up getting in the way."

They went to work in earnest, so involved that they took little notice of the thickening clouds, and they had nearly filled the basket with a miniature rainbow of blooms when a sudden summer shower surprised them from above. Naruto tucked the basket under one arm and grabbed for Hinata's hand. Together they ran for the shelter of the big tree on the nearby hill. They dropped to the ground and fell back against the tree's rough, ripply bark to look out on the downpour.

"Wow! It's really pouring down!" he observed. "Didn't see that coming!"

He turned to see her brushing her wet bangs away from her eyes. Chivalrous spirit rising, he peeled off his jacket, gave it a shake and dropped it over her shoulders. "Here! Can't have an esteemed member of the Hyuuga clan catching a summer cold!"

She snuggled into the jacket, appreciative of both the sudden warmth and the pleasure of his scent. "Thank you, Naruto-kun—but now you're out in the weather!"

"Aww, you know me," he said, giving his own wet head a shake, "I'm all kinds of tough!"

A drop of rain slid down his face, prompting her to reach up and wipe it from his whiskered cheek. "Did you ever wonder about these?" she asked, tracing the dark lines with a finger, "I mean, growing up you didn't know they were the mark of the Kyuubi-"

Her touch tickled but he tried to ignore it. Slightly taken back by the question, he chose to react with humor. "I've always thought that they gave me a look of manly distinction, y'know," he answered, jutting out his jaw and cocking his head for affect.

She giggled and shook her head. "No, seriously."

He gave in with a shrug. "I dunno. I never gave 'em much thought, really. They were always there and no one said much about 'em..." He shrugged again, uncharacteristically introspective. "...though once in awhile I did wonder if I'd fit in better without them..."

"I've always thought they were cute," she admitted softly.

"Cute!" He straightened, eyes wide with mock indignation. "An amazing specimen of Konoha shinobi as myself—cute!?"

"Completely."

He rolled his eyes her way, his voice unexpectedly subdued. "Well. If you say so, it must be true."

Suddenly shy, she dropped her head and looked away, prompting him to give her a playful nudge. "Hey, look! The rain's stopped! We've got our flowers, and my stomach is telling me it's time for lunch. How about hitting Ichiraku on the way back?" He rose with a stretch, "I know I could use some fuel after a morning spent at such a grueling workout."

She nodded, happy with the prospect of joining him in a meal, and accepted his offer of a hand up to her feet.

"Race you down!" he suddenly challenged, snatching up the basket and rushing out from under the tree's leafy canopy.

To his surprise, Hinata responded to the dare with a quick sprint past him. His sense of rivalry kicked in and he picked up his pace, his attention more on her graceful moves ahead than on the slope of the hill below him. The wetness of the grass combined with the uneven terrain to send him reeling in a forward slide directly into the speeding kunoichi and they both went down, tumbling to the meadow below.

The pair rolled to a stop in a tangled heap of arms and legs. Naruto found himself nearly nose to nose with Hinata, the carefully picked flowers strewn around them and clinging to hair and clothing. They looked at each other, pale lavender eyes to bright blue, and burst out laughing.

"I always knew I'd fall for you," he quipped as he leaned back to rub his rump, "but not this hard, y'know!" A blossom toppled from his wild hair and he twisted to look back in horror at the upended basket left halfway up the hill. "Oh, no! The flowers!"

"It's okay, Naruto-kun," Hinata soothed, unable not to smile at his crushed expression, "this only means that we get to do it again tomorrow, no?"

His eyes lit up. "I like how you think." He bounced to his feet and held out his hand, " It's a date, Hinata! Now...about that lunch at Ichiraku..."

***


End file.
